Atlanta Real Estate

The number of for sale listings in Atlanta that have either expired or were withdrawn in the last 45 days has seemingly snowballed. Although withdrawals and expireds are typical toward the end of the year, it is counter intuitive given December is one of the best months for real estate closings. Whether it’s for tax purposes or relocation or the other many reasons people move, December can be a BUSY month for real estate. In fact, if the number of residential real estate closings in any given year is divided by 12, there is a good chance it equals the number of closings in December.

Why do agents and sellers take homes off the market in December? Many sellers don’t want their houses available for showing in the time running up to the holidays. Some get discouraged by slower-than-spring market traffic. However, showings are generally of better quality in December and January because nosy neighbors and tire-kickers are distracted by the holidays. Showings are fewer, but of better quality.

The attached chart from the National Association of Realtors illustrates “The Sweet Spot” in the real estate market that occurs every year when homes for sale inventory craters, creating the least competitive environment for sellers any given year. Listings that haven’t sold in the current year come off the market with then intent of going back on the market in the spring. The problem is that those sellers face competition with completely new inventory in the spring which puts further downward pressure on home values.

Beacham & Company, REALTORS has already exceeded its’ 2017 sales as of October. The 12 year-old firm has already enjoyed its best year ever in 2018 as closings are up nearly 20 percent.

Beacham & Company, REALTORS set a record for sales in October with nearly $50 million in closed dollar volume. The firm also surpassed its number of sales for all of 2017. Beacham has now set all-time sales records in nine out of 10 months in 2018 and in every year of its existence.

Overall, the local housing market was down in October with 6,822 sales versus 6,962 in October 2017 which represents a decline of two percent. Year-to-date, Atlanta home sales in Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett are up two percent due to gains in the first half of the year. Sales growth for homes of more than $1 million slowed in October to 8.8 percent but remain up 19.1 percent year-to-date.

The slowdown in home sales has led to a 7.7 percent in U.S. housing inventory year-over-year according to a recent Inman News article, while price reductions are up 15 percent from a year ago – both good signs for buyers. However, slowing new home construction due to soaring lot prices and labor shortages are working in seller’s favor. Robust new construction helps to keep resale prices in check. House flips are a growth opportunity for Millennial buyers and investors alike.

Look for more analysis on the current state of the Atlanta real estate market later this month in the fall issue of The Beacham Insider. To receive your copy, email [email protected]

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Beacham & Company, REALTORS was founded in 2006 by Glennis Beacham, one of Atlanta’s most celebrated real estate agents. The firm has 100 agents who average $7 million in sales per agent – more than any other Atlanta real estate firm. In 2017, closed $600 million in home sales.

The Shepherd Center is a non-for-profit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injuries and other neuromuscular conditions. Founded in 1975, this center is ranked among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation. At the center patients receive more than just medical care, but an experience that brings healing and hope. Patients travel from across nation and the globe to the Shepherd Center because of the innovative brand of neuro-rehabilitation.

Beacham Gives Back was the brainchild of Beacham agent Rachel Farmer and is believed to be the first charitable giving program of its kind by an Atlanta real estate company. Beacham agents and staff select a new charity every quarter by vote of the office and the agent who nominated the winning charity serves as captain of fundraising. In all, Beacham Gives Back donations have reached nearly $100,000 in less than a year to several local charities. Since the firm was founded in 2006, Beacham & Company has given or committed more than $250,000 to Atlanta charities and non-profit institutions. Some past recipients include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta, Forward Arts Foundation, and Emory Winship Cancer Institute.

Beautiful marketing is our passion, and it shows in both the materials we produce and our ability to achieve record sales every year. From photography to graphic design to print materials to digital advertising, we are obsessed with producing fresh, original, and always custom marketing materials. Being the best is “a thing” for us!

When we see real estate marketing that fits the same format for property after property, we cringe. Every home has its own story that is best told through a creative voice instead of an assembly line. Our marketing staff is not alone in each endeavor; our agents play a huge collaborative role in developing each piece of marketing we release into the real estate universe. At the end of the day, marketing is all about enhancing value.

Our marketing goes beyond just pretty things though. It’s a commitment to understanding the market around each listing, the market as a whole, and how each home fits into both. As a brokerage, we are constantly evaluating, re-evaluating, and discussing the macro and micro changes in the market. Our founder calls it a “think tank environment,” and that’s exactly what it is.

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Beacham & Company, REALTORS® is Atlanta’s top-selling luxury real estate office. The firm was founded by Glennis Beacham, one of Atlanta’s most celebrated real estate agents and the only agent in Georgia to sell nearly $2 billion in real estate. The firm has 100 agents who average $7 million in sales per agent, more than any other Atlanta real estate firm. In 2017, the firm achieved record sales for the 11th consecutive year and remained the top-selling office in the city for single family listings sold for more than $1 million. The firm also donated nearly $1,000 per agent to local charities over the course of the year.

Beacham & Company, REALTORS® relocation coordinator, Sharon Leone, recently attended the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council (ERC) Americas Mobility conference in Dallas, Tx. Beacham is a 10-year member of Worldwide ERC which is a relocation services industry trade group with a membership of 7,500 relocation professionals. Worldwide ERC’s chief mission is best practices management for the movement of employees by their employers within the United States and between all other countries.

Worldwide ERC President and CEO Peggy Smith addressed labor force participation in her keynote address. The rate of labor force participation in the United States continues to decline despite unemployment rates at 40-year lows. With Millennials now making up much of the workforce (and nearly 48% of all non-refinance loan originations), contract-based work is becoming more common she said. This “contingent workforce” gives companies the ability to hire the best available talent, which in turn enables quick adaptation into a job. Recruiting outsourced talent also saves companies money, she said.

“We are entering a workforce environment where on-demand contingent workers are rising as a talent option and are racing toward becoming a majority, in contrast to traditional workers,” Smith said. “This scenario is made even more complex with geopolitical churn, automation and technology shaking up the way companies operate, and the urgent need to continually up-skill current and future employees.”

Another hot discussion topic was the location of Amazon’s second headquarters (Amazon HQ2) and the impact on that area if chosen. Atlanta is among the finalists and considered one of several front-runners along with the Washington, D.C. area and Austin, Tx. Other topics focused on the Millennial impact on housing and the use of portals in the home search process. Of the top four real estate portals or websites, nearly 120 billion home buyers were sourced from Google and Facebook in 2017 compared to just 604 million from Zillow according to report published by T3 Sixty, a real estate consulting and research firm based in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

If your growing company needs to outsource its employee relocation management, Beacham & Company is well-equipped to take over. Our relocation department can save companies money on employee transfers and offers excellent service from an agent team that is the top-producing in the city. For more information, contact Sharon Leone at 404.261.6300 or [email protected]

PHOTO CAPTION: Top – The Gaylord Hotel in Dallas, site of this year’s WorldwideERC conference; Side – Beacham relocation coordinator Sharon Leone (left) with Tara Chandler of Extended Stay America.

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Beacham & Company, REALTORS® is Atlanta’s top-selling luxury real estate office. The firm was founded by Glennis Beacham, one of Atlanta’s most celebrated real estate agents and the only agent in Georgia to sell nearly $2 billion in real estate. The firm has 100 agents who average $7 million in sales per agent, more than any other Atlanta real estate firm. In 2017, the firm achieved record sales for the 11th consecutive year and remained the top-selling office in the city for single family listings sold for more than $1 million. The firm also donated nearly $1,000 per agent to local charities over the course of the year.

Have you heard the news?! Beacham is giving away two AMAZING third row seats to the sought after Broadway performance of Hamilton!! The tickets for this Sunday’s show are at 6:30pm and would make a phenomenal date night. Interested in winning? Here’s what to do:

1. Follow Beacham and Company on Instagram

2. “Like” the photo of Hamilton on Beacham’s Instagram page

3. Comment on the photo and tag your plus one

The deadline to enter is Friday, June 8th at 5pm. Don’t miss out on this opportunity!!

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Beacham & Company, REALTORS® is Atlanta’s top-selling luxury real estate office. The firm was founded by Glennis Beacham, one of Atlanta’s most celebrated real estate agents and the only agent in Georgia to sell nearly $2 billion in real estate. The firm has 100 agents who average $7 million in sales per agent, more than any other Atlanta real estate firm. In 2017, the firm achieved record sales for the 11th consecutive year and remained the top-selling office in the city for single family listings sold for more than $1 million. The firm also donated nearly $1,000 per agent to local charities over the course of the year.

Through the first four months of 2018, Beacham & Company, REALTORS® was where it has been for the last 11 years when it comes to luxury real estate – tops in Atlanta. The firm outsold all other Atlanta offices in homes priced $1 million or more according to Trendgraphix, an independent provider of MLS market share data to the residential real estate brokerage industry (see accompanying chart).

In addition to its top seller status, Beacham’s market share grew faster (+33%) than any other office in the top 10 in sales. For the entire MLS, the number of $1 million-plus homes sold in 2018 was up 13.5% compared to the first four months of 2017. The $1 million and up market did better than Atlanta’s overall housing market, which was up just 1% for the same period.

Home prices in the luxury market were a different story. The average sales price for $1 million-plus homes was down 2% from 2017 to $1,464,192. The downward trend in prices continued a pattern that began several years ago. Unlike the market for homes priced less than $1 million which has very low inventory, the number of homes on the market priced $1 million or more is near record high levels and significant amounts of “shadow inventory,” or unlisted, expired or withdrawn listings exist.

Age demographics continued to weigh on the luxury market in 2018 as the increase in Atlanta’s population failed to boost the buyer pool for luxury homes that Atlanta Baby Boomers want to sell. The luxury market is an “off-the-top market,” where new listings either sell quickly or linger due to a property’s condition relative to new and renovated homes with contemporary finishes. Also, Gen X and Millennial buyers value different property features in general than Baby Boomers.

Read more about the luxury market in the upcoming issue of The Beacham Insider later this month.

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Beacham & Company, REALTORS® is Atlanta’s top-selling luxury real estate office. The firm was founded by Glennis Beacham, one of Atlanta’s most celebrated real estate agents and the only agent in Georgia to sell nearly $2 billion in real estate. The firm has 100 agents who average $7 million in sales per agent, more than any other Atlanta real estate firm. In 2017, the firm achieved record sales for the 11th consecutive year and remained the top-selling office in the city for single family listings sold for more than $1 million. The firm also donated nearly $1,000 per agent to local charities over the course of the year.

This weekend Beacham & Company, REALTORS® will offer open house goers a chance to win a Christina Baker painting ($800 value) by tagging the Beacham crest at any Beacham open house. Called “Quest for the Crest,” or for you Millennials, “#CrestQuest,” it’s your opportunity to add a piece of artwork to your collection from one of the hottest current artists in Atlanta’s art gallery world.

The rules are simple:

TAKE a picture of the framed Beacham crest displayed at Beacham open houses;

POST the picture on your (public) Instagram story;

TAG the following Instagram accounts:

@beachamandcompany

@anneirwinfineart

@christinabaker1

The more open houses you visit and tag, the more chances you have to win! We have more than 20 open houses scheduled this weekend throughout Buckhead and greater Atlanta. Click here for a map of all our open houses.

Not on Instagram? We would still love you to visit our open houses but you must follow the Instagram steps to be registered to win.

The winner agrees to appear in person at the Beacham office to accept painting and be photographed for publicity purposes. Must be 21 or older to participate. Beacham agents, employees, and their family members not eligible to win. For additional questions about contest rules, please email [email protected]

About the artist: Christina Baker’s works are displayed all over the United States including Anne Irwin Fine Art gallery on Miami Circle in Buckhead. Baker is a native of Amelia Island, Fla., who recently relocated to Murfeesboro, Tenn. She is a self taught artist who finds inspiration in nature. She uses acrylics as her medium of choice and picks up additional elements of mixed media when the desire arises. These competing elements bring the original life you can see in her work which Christina calls “extremely intuitive.” Christina prefers to work mostly in the abstract and impressionist genres, and she enjoys the challenge of creating harmony between styles that most would consider non-complimentary.

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Beacham & Company, REALTORS® is Atlanta’s top-selling luxury real estate office. The firm was founded by Glennis Beacham, one of Atlanta’s most celebrated real estate agents and the only agent in Georgia to sell nearly $2 billion in real estate. The firm has 100 agents who average $7 million in sales per agent, more than any other Atlanta real estate firm. In 2017, the firm achieved record sales for the 11th consecutive year and remained the top-selling office in the city for single family listings sold for more than $1 million. The firm was also donated nearly $1,000 per agent to local charities over the course of the year.

We sprung on spring! Beacham & Company, REALTORS® got off to a jackrabbit start this spring as evidenced by a 46.9.% increase in closings and dollar volume sold in April compared to the same month a year ago. In addition, the firm set records for most closings and dollar volume sold in any month in the company’s history.

Beacham appeared to defy the odds because preliminary closing numbers for the entire Atlanta MLS showed the market down 16.8% in April vs. April 2017. The final numbers for the market should improve since some brokerages are slow to report sales, but continued contraction of housing inventory should keep the percentage in the red. Closings of homes for $1 million or more were down even more than for all price ranges at 18.9%. Beacham once again sold more homes in the $1 million-plus price range in Buckhead than any other firm including those with thousands of agents.

Reasons for Beacham’s ability to buck overall market trends were numerous. The firm released a new website in March which led to an unprecedented surge in digital activity. Additionally, Beacham released its’ latest issue of The Beacham Series magazine in early April which generated more positive reviews and new business than any previous edition. Other recent new initiatives such as the firm’s Beacham 360 approach to marketing listings as well as collaborative internal support for agents to best position listings and to win multiple offer situations made a huge difference as well.

Beacham’s April sales were particularly strong in Buckhead and inside the I-285 Perimeter. Overall, MLS areas where sales were up in April included the Atlanta Westside, Midtown, East Cobb, and Historic Vinings. The market remained hard to encapsulate however, as some homes received multiple offers and others lingered on the market.

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Beacham & Company, REALTORS® is Atlanta’s top-selling luxury real estate office. The firm was founded by Glennis Beacham, one of Atlanta’s most celebrated real estate agents and the only agent in Georgia to sell nearly $2 billion in real estate. The firm has 100 agents who average $7 million in sales per agent, more than any other Atlanta real estate firm. In 2017, the firm achieved record sales for the 11th consecutive year and remained the top-selling office in the city for single family listings sold for more than $1 million. The firm was also donated nearly $1,000 per agent to local charities over the course of the year.

Shepherd Center is a private, not-for-profit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular conditions. Located in Buckhead, Shepherd was founded in 1975 and is ranked by U.S. News & World Reportamong the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation.

In its more than four decades, Shepherd Center has grown from a six-bed rehabilitation unit to a world-renowned, 152-bed hospital that treats more than 900 inpatients, 575 day program patients and more than 7,100 outpatients each year. Patients travel from across the nation – and even the globe – to Shepherd Center for its innovative brand of neurorehabilitation.

Shepherd Center was nominated by Beacham agent Kyle Baumann who will serve as fundraising captain.

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Beacham & Company, REALTORS® is Atlanta’s top-selling luxury real estate office. The firm was founded by Glennis Beacham, one of Atlanta’s most celebrated real estate agents and the only agent in Georgia to sell nearly $2 billion in real estate. The firm has 100 agents who average $7 million in sales per agent, more than any other Atlanta real estate firm. In 2017, the firm achieved record sales for the 11th consecutive year and remained the top-selling office in the city for single family listings sold for more than $1 million. The firm was also donated nearly $1,000 per agent to local charities over the course of the year.